Tuesday, February 28, 2012

I have to admit, this week has been hard..really hard. For the last four days it has -10 and -12 again. I am officially ready for winter to be over, and for it to stop being cold. However, tonight we are expecting four centimeters (2.5 inches) of snow. :-( When I was at school this morning I was talking to another teacher and asking him how he copes with the cold all the time since he moved here from Uruguay. He said he reminds himself how clean the air is. That makes him love it. Mmm...I will give that one a try. :-/ In the BIG picture though I just remind myself that I love my job - and that to me is very important when a person has to work to support a home. Going to work each day is hard enough at times, but loving the job and appreciating the people you work with helps a great deal. ...And then there are the students.

Three months ago a Japanese university student became one of my students at the college. He is very uptight and rigid. He was quick to tell me that he is not fond of his family and had no intention of keeping contact with them while he was studying abroad. We had many “chats” about his conduct in the classroom (grumpiness). This week the students had to produce a writing assignment about someone in their life. I was kinda wondering who he was going to write about, but didn't want to ask. I got the paper yesterday and laughed to see it was ME. He started out by saying how “she is the strangest teacher I have ever met. When she does role play in class with us she uses many different voices. I have never heard someone with so many voices in their head. And also, when I look at her in class I see she touches her glasses too much, and they have fingermarks on them. This disturbs me greatly. However, I have learned she is a very good teacher because now my English is good.” It makes me sound like some weird teacher in an old movie, but I laughed and laughed because I knew where it came from.

Then there is Diego. I have learned that good manners, and bad manners cross all cultural barriers. Diego is from Mexico and has been over indulged his whole life. He does his best to be obnoxious in the classroom and will take moments to attempt to make other students cry by his remarks so I have to intervene frequently. Recently he was saying some nasty things and I told him that he needed to stop and think about how he could express himself in a more mature manner. He proceeded to fling up his shirt and say, “mature? I am mature. I am a MAN! Look at all this hair!” I have a whole slew of responses I save for such moments. :-/ Oddly, whenever his program expires he keeps renewing, knowing that he will get me again, and again, and again. However, on the program evaluations yesterday the College Director was laughing because on the bottom of his evaluation form he added his own category of things he hates, and listed only one item underneath: me. The Director says it is okay though, because no other teacher wants to teach him. I actually think the training at the Ministry meetings comes into play here because we are taught to be nice or tolerant no matter how rotten or defiant someone is. ..and as post note to this, as I wrote this initially in the morning - Diego came to me later in the day and said he wanted to change himself but didn't know how. We sat down and made a plan together, and gave him the analogy of a highwire walker that becomes the star of the show - before he achieves his goal he falls a zillion times but he keeps trying otherwise he will spend his life on his back in the net. He understood and now each day we are working at his internal and language goals.

Even with the stress of the job I have to say I love it, because there truly never is a dull moment. From the moment I put foot in the class to the moment I leave, it is an adventure. I just have to work on appreciating this cold time of the year here. :-/

Okay, I must run, as the bus is almost pulling into the bus loop. If you have a meeting tonight have a great time!

Sunday, February 19, 2012

I am almost ready to run out the door to the meeting this morning, but wanted to share a couple pictures. The first one is of Pearl riding shotgun. It is pretty cold right now and after about 20 minutes she wants to ride. Harve does good with all his hair, however when it hits -5 and below there is no way he wants to go out so I wait til the sun warms things up a bit. His only problem is that when he is walking in the snow it collects on his body and he gets HUGE snowballs that we have to pick out along the way or when we get home. Sometimes he can't walk until we take them off because they get under his paws. The second is of our walking lane. In the the park there is a 3km trail. It is all fenced and safe. The last is of the lot with the miniature train. In the summer the owner has trains running through a perfect little village he has built with people and cars. When I was walking through the resort this morning, I was thinking that I absolutely LOVE resort life. After living in apartments, condos, and houses, I really prefer this lifestyle. Simple but interesting. I think I will always be a full-time RVer, because no matter where a person goes - down south, Mexico, or up north here, it is just such a nice way to live. Okay, enough blithering, off to the meeting!

Friday, February 17, 2012

Well it is snowing again! This morning on the way to the bus, I went down hard on a snow covered ice area. One second up, the next second looking up. The good thing is I didn't hit my head because as usual I was wearing my backpack with the neck pocket behind my head. The worrying part was the laptop. But Samsung came through again! This mini laptop takes a licking and keeps on ticking. It has been pulled off the table a couple times by clumsy Harvey, pulled on my desk by unobservant students, and then today took my full body weight as I landed on it, as well as being hauled back and forth to work everyday – but it turns on every time. I do know that one day it will die, but I really think I will look for a Samsung again due to the beating this one has taken and done so well.

Anyway, almost to work, so time to start staring out the window as I listen to the WT being played on my earphones.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

All is going good here. Still icy cold, especially in the mornings, but it gradually is getting warmer...kinda. By my estimation we are exactly 4 weeks to Spring. I got out before work this morning and shoveled the yard a bit, but then it is supposed to snow again for 3 days starting Saturday. It should be very very pretty and maybe it will be our last big snow so I will get out with my camera and take lots of pics.

Pearl is paying for her naughtiness. I rarely buy any hot food because I am always afraid that Harvey or Pearl with get at it somehow and make themselves sick. Well when I was shopping at Walmart last week they had a tray of HOT SPICY SAUSAGES on sale for $5 and I decided I really wanted them.Well last night I cut them up into chunks and cooked them up. As I was taking them out of the pan suddenly everything flipped and sausage bits went all over the floor. I was screaming NOOOOO! to scare Harvey and Pearl away, and grabbing bits up and throwing them in the sink. I was feeling pretty good about how fast I moved...and then I looked over my shoulder to the couch and saw Pearl standing on the couch looking back at me with a sausage between her teeth. I yelled at her to DROP DROP DROP! but instead she started chewing as fast as she could like a rabid gerbil as I ran toward her. Her pointed little teeth never moved faster. I was horrified knowing how hot the thing was, so I immediately put her on the floor and gave her some cream and cheese to try and neutralize the spices. I could tell by her face she was amazed at the fact that she had been naughty, and then got rewarded for it by being able to eat two of her favorite things. I checked the internet and it basically said she would be sick and either vomit it up, or poop it out. She seemed fine during the night, but when I came home tonight I could see that she had done both. But she seems fine now, thank goodness.

Work is great this week. We are having spirit week (not the type where we all wear sheets with eye holes) so that means the teachers and student body have theme days. Today was hat day. For any guy that showed up without a hat I made little paper hats and pinned them to their heads. The other teachers said they all looked like Burger King workers. :-)

Monday, February 6, 2012

Remember that old show from the fifties where they had eery music and then went on to examine some odd occurrence, like Why Mrs. Smith's oven kept working despite the knob being broken? From what I understand, the new Twilight show is more along the lines of blood guts and sex – part of the times we live in. However, this morning I had my own twilight moment. When I walked out the door this morning to the bus there was a full on blizzard going on. All the way to the gate of my resort – then suddenly it stopped. When I got to the highway I looked back and a person could see this blizzard cloud engulfing the resort, but everything around it was clear. So weird. :-/

This was a good weekend. I stayed home and did organizing things. The meeting in the morning was good. I figured something out though. Our conductor ALWAYS looks to his left when he first asks a question. By the time my hand goes up five times (that is my limit due to the possibility of tears) I give up. However, this time due to coming in at song time I had to sit near the back and could observe more to see this pattern. So if I sit to the left of the platform I HAVE to only answer secondary questions because first answers will go to the right. That is okay. Years ago, in my congregation in Burnaby, we had a brother who was also the city overseer give our special needs talk on commenting. He reminded everyone that even if a person doesn't get called on each time they put up their hand they have commented in Jehovah God's eyes. He always had such a loving perspective about things.

Well now I am sitting on the bus flying down the highway to work, and Pearl and Harvey are no doubt laying spread eagle on the couch or bed. So everyone have a wonderful day and hope you had a great weekend too!

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Sometimes I feel like I really do have one of the best jobs in the world. We just had international culture day at the college. Each national group of students made dishes from their countries and then everyone wandered from classroom to classroom sampling everything. It was sooo good. I was able to eat all my favorite Korean dishes, but also try quite a few new Brazilian ones. Just an absolutely wonderful afternoon. ...and no Pearl wasn't on the menu, but she is just soooo cute when she lays around that I had to include the pic. :-)